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The fuel we use every day to power our homes and communities is produced in power plants. Globally, power plants are the largest single contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, but what if we could reduce the carbon emissions directly from coal and natural gas power plants? Jeff Long’s group in the College of Chemistry is working on novel materials to make that possible.

Welcome to a delayed but still relevant recap of Climate Change 101! As we get the blog active after a long Covid hiatus we are ironing out some logistics, but we are excited to be sharing event highlights and interesting energy and resource updates again!

We are excited to highlight a new series of posts that will be shared on both the Berkeley Science Review (BSR) and Berkeley Energy and Resource Collaborative (BERC) platforms. These articles will showcase UC Berkeley’s innovation in energy and resource sustainability, feature faculty and research profiles from many different departments, and keep readers up to date on relevant BERC events!

When I learned of the hiring of Patti Poppe as CEO of PG&E, my thoughts went to the impressive number of women leading major utilities throughout the country. I wondered why the utility industry, rather than tech or healthcare, seems to have such a tremendous record of success for female executives. And with the annual BERC Women in Energy event fast approaching (it’s on Thursday 12/10 at 6pm PT!), I figured now is the time to educate myself. 

Among the numerous changes to society caused by COVID-19, an experiment is playing out in city streets and sidewalks across America. Following lockdowns, as cities began exploring how to reopen businesses safely, a sudden need for policies and procedures to expedite access to outdoor spaces emerged.

As battery prices continue to fall and the penetration of variable wind and solar generation rises, power plant developers are increasingly combining wind and solar projects with on-site batteries, creating “hybrid” power plants. I had the opportunity to lead a research effort up at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab which outlines the drivers of the new trend while discussing options for integrating the new technologies onto the grid.

A solar panels are warranted to perform their best for 25 years. So because the first major wave of solar panel installation was around 2010, the United States has about 15 years before solar panel recycling becomes a major issue. However, a surge in PV panel waste is coming and it pays to prepare. By 2050, there will be ten-million tons of PV waste volume in North America

Luckily, much of the materials in silicon and thin-film panels can be recycled, 

Each year BERC hosts our flagship fall event, Resource Symposium, a half-day event that brings together professionals, policymakers, and academics on critical resource-related topics.

Spring Break is a great time to relax, spend time with family, or travel. For me, Spring Break was the perfect opportunity to attend the ICEPAG 2019 Microgrid Global Summit. The International Colloquium on Environmentally Preferred Advanced Power Generation (ICEPAG) is an annual clean energy conference presented by the Advanced Power and Energy Program (APEP) at UC Irvine. With a focus on microgrids, ICEPAG invites professionals in both academia and industry to share their cutting-edge developments.

Marcus Lehmann

Current position: Co-founder & CEO, CalWave Power Technologies Inc.

Cal Affiliation: Visiting Research Student, Mechanical Engineering (2012-2016)

BERC continues to take the world by storm, racking up double wins at UCLA's Energy Case Challenges Competition last month!

Check out the Haas blog link for more information and congratulations to Sid Mullick, Cici Saekow, Mark Sheiness, Kylie Sale, William Lynn (from Edison International/Southern California Edison), Bree Soares, Kate Tomlinson, Joyce Yao, Deborah Tan, and Nick Matcheck, all Haas MBA 20.

Zero waste, recycling and the environmental impacts of our built environment fueled debate at this year's installment of BERC's Resources Roundtable, drawing decisionmakers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and private waste management. 

So, you’ve got a great idea for turning your hard-tech research into a product or service. Great. But no matter how miraculous your discovery sounds, it cannot be turned into a viable commercial venture unless it can be scaled to meet the demand of a target market, and then manufactured and sold at a price that both sustains your business and meets your customer’s requirements for price (what they pay) and value (what they get). You have to obey the laws of capitalism!

On October 4, UC Berkeley and BERC hosted the 4^th annual Smogathon highlighting the latest innovative air pollution solutions. The event was first launched in 2015 in Poland as a hackathon and has since evolved into an international competition with hundreds of applications featuring real strategies designed to improve air quality and reduce smog.

Buzz has been growing around electric water and space heaters as potent technology for helping California reach its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals. Recent state moves to require solar panels on all new residential homes by 2020 certainly make electric water and space heaters more carbon efficient.

Also helping are more efficient heater models that can produce more than three times more energy than they consume – by sucking up the heat in surrounding air or soils and pumping it into water or air.

This past spring break, 23 students from various majors were selected to participate in Solar Spring Break (SSB), a partnership between UC Berkeley’s Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC) and Grid Alternatives (GRID). GRID is a nonprofit solar organization that seeks to bring renewable energy to low-income homeowners, while also providing solar education to volunteers. UC Berkeley SSB teams are traditionally sent out to Oakland neighborhoods, but for the first time this year, a team was also sent to the Salinas Valley.

Thanks to all who came out to BERC Alumni Night 2018!

On the evening of Thursday, April 26, BERC hosted Alumni Night at the offices of WSGR in San Francisco, bringing together alumni, current students and friends of BERC for a night of networking, fun and fundraising.

Are you interested in cutting edge technologies? Consider joining the Cleantech to Market (C2M) course at Haas this fall.

One of the highlights of BERC’s 2018 Energy Summit in February was the recording of the popular Interchange podcast, this one featuring a conversation between host Shayle Kann and Ryan Hanley. Ryan is a renewable energy industry veteran now with Advanced Microgrid Solutions and formerly based at Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Tesla and SolarCity.

Join us in accelerating cleantech innovation! Attend one of C2M’s Info Sessions—Pizza Will be Served!

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Thursday, March 8, 12:30 – 1:30 in Haas School of Business Room S489

Friday, March 9, 11:00 – 12:00 in Haas School of Business Room S489

Are you interested in how solar power can help rural communities leapfrog dirty power production technologies? Curious whether “clean coal” is an oxymoron? Want to know why California is investing $45 billion to build some (big) water pipes?

BERC’s communities talked about all of these topics last year!

Today, our generation faces some of the most daunting challenges in history; combating global warming, addressing rising energy demand, and ensuring access to energy for all. Dealing with these challenges requires creative and innovative solutions across a multitude of disciplines, and it must involve people from all over the world who are committed to a sustainable future.

This is the third of a multi-post blog series by the BERC-Action community. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the opinions of the entire BERC organization. 

This is the second of a multi-post blog series by the BERC-Action community on President Trump’s proposed budget. The first piece was on the Importance of the EPA. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the opinions of the entire BERC organization. 

Friday, December 1, 2017
8:00 am – 3:00 pm
Sibley Auditorium
Bechtel Engineering Center
UC Berkeley Campus

Gain unique insights into leading-edge cleantech innovations

This is the first of a multi-post blog series by the BERC-Action community on President Trump’s proposed budget. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the opinions of the entire BERC organization. 

Check out and register for the Mobile Monitoring Challenge!

https://earth.stanford.edu/…/registration-open-mobile-monit…

Do you want to fight air pollution and win $100,000?

At the beginning of the summer, 30 BERC members had the pleasure of touring the Tesla factory in Fremont. Due to a strict non-disclosure agreement, I cannot include specifics about what we saw. Suffice it to say, Tesla is doing very impressively as an electric car manufacturer.

Hi Energy Enthusiasts!

The Stanford Energy Club has been up to a lot this quarter and we’re going to end with a bang this week as students and faculty transition to finals and summer.

Bloom Energy Tour

Energy Club members had the opportunity to go visit Bloom Energy’s power generation systems which utilize an innovative new fuel cell energy technology with roots in NASA’s Mars program. Students learned a lot and got to see cutting edge research in action

Stanford Energy Club and Law School Mixer

As our energy mix becomes increasingly decarbonized, regulators and grid operators face new challenges from many directions. A growing concern in regions with high penetration of renewables is the risk of uneconomic retirement of flexible capacity, such as natural gas-fired power plants.

Hi Energy Enthusiasts, we’re only two weeks into Spring Quarter, but the SEC has already been up to a lot!

Young Professionals in Energy (YPE) and Stanford Energy Club Happy Hour
We had a great event with YPE where undergraduates and graduates studying energy issues got to meet with recent graduates working in the energy industry at Scotty’s Bar in Palo Alto. It was well attended and everyone made genuine connections while having a great time.

Scientists have confirmed that our climate is changing at an unprecedented rate and in dramatic ways. Our climate is intimately linked to the global economy—from farmers in Vietnam to real estate in Miami, almost every aspect of the global economy is exposed to the effects of climate change.

What better way to end your week than learning about the low-carbon development pathways in Chinese cities?

The energy industry today faces major challenges. How will we develop clean sources of power that don’t pollute our planet, that provide energy access to the millions who don’t have it, and that maintain the reliability and stability of our electric systems? To tackle these complex challenges, we need more innovative solutions from all players in the industry, both new and old.

Hey guys! The SEC has been up to a lot of stuff this quarter – here are the highlights:

Networking Night 2017

Jim Rogers, Former CEO of Duke Energy, addresses cleantech professionals, academics and students at the BERC Energy Summit.

“Cleantech opportunity today is as great as it has ever been.”

That’s how Jim Rogers, Former CEO of Duke Energy, kicked off this year’s BERC Energy Summit on Friday, February 24. 

A Berkeley STEM Graduate Students’ Guide to Climate and Environmental Activism in the “Trumpocene Era”

When: Monday, April 3rd, 5:00pm-6:00pm

Where: Koelbel 230

Posted from CU Energy Club

The analogy of blockchain to jazz was made more than once at Event Horizon, the first major conference on blockchain technology in the energy industry held last week in Vienna. Decentralized, free-form, and without a conductor, blockchains have the potential to transform incumbent centralized power structures.

When: Monday, March 6th, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Where: Koelbel 230

Posted from CU Energy Club

Hey Guys! We’ve had a busy quarter so far – take a look at what we’ve been up to over the last few weeks.

Women in Tech + Social Impact

The Stanford Women’s Community Center held their first Work Series panel this quarter on  Women in Tech + Social Impact! SEC members Yatian Qu, Lexi Butler, and Jessie Lad were among the panelists, and talked extensively about making an impact in the tech industry!

During the winter break, I had the opportunity to travel to Lebanon and help to troubleshoot three hybrid microgrids in Lebanon. These sites were commissioned as part of the UNDP program CEDRO IV, and the project MED-Solar.

BERC has joined a coalition of student energy clubs from across the country in urging the Trump administration to demonstrate leadership on clean energy, and promote support for an industry critical to future American prosperity. In an open letter addressed directly to President-Elect Trump, student leaders highlight the continued and burgeoning success of the clean energy industry, its importance to American infrastructure and job creation, and its necessity in ensuring the country remains a global economic leader.

Colvin Wang and a number of other SEC officers attended a panel last week on the future of batteries hosted by the Churchill Club, a technology and business forum based in Silicon Valley. This is his recap of the event.

This past weekend, nearly 40 participants from UC Berkeley, Berkeley Lab, and the Bay Area gathered for Brave New Hacks, the 4th annual BERC Cleanweb Hackathon. The event was a huge success, and 7 teams made pitches at the end of the 24-hour event in front of a panel of judges, including Kate Knox of Advanced Microgrid Solutions, Jackie Weidman of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute, and Sam Saxena of LBNL.

On November 2, 2016, BERC held its annual 2016 Resources Roundtable, featuring the Water-Energy Nexus. Attracting over 100 UC Berkeley students, faculty, and professionals, the conversations shed light on current and anticipated challenges to the water-energy nexus, as well as steps towards achieving a sustainable future in a world with growing population and resource demands.

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This year BERC will participate in the annual Big Give campaign organized by UC Berkeley. This year’s theme is the “Berkeley effect”: The butterfly effect explains change. The Berkeley Effect changes the world. If a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can cause a tornado in Texas, then surely the generous hearts, good deeds, and great leaps of UC Berkeley can spark positive change all over the globe.

By Center for Environmental Public Policy

The Paris Climate Agreement covers 98 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Its adoption in 2015 at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and recent ratification create an unprecedented opportunity to address our most pressing environmental threat. Seizing that opportunity demands mobilizing trillions of dollars in public and private finance to implement the transformational climate policies required to achieve the Paris goals and sustain our communities and economies.

What is the cost of scientific misunderstanding? How many lives are lost as a result of false assumptions and inaccurate data representation? More importantly, what can I do, as a scientist, to address these misunderstandings and save those lives?

In the past year, Venture capital (VC) funding for early-stage cleantech companies seems to have mostly dried up. The good news is that other cleantech investors are stepping up to fill the void- including our own University. But before diving into the details of Berkeley’s Cleantech University Prize, let’s explore the VC cleantech funding issue further.

For two weeks this August, students from around the world gathered at UC Berkeley for the first ever Nuclear Innovation Bootcamp. The goal? To train the next generation of nuclear professionals to generate ideas and solve problems with significant real-world impact.